Our History

Kewdale Primary School was opened on the 26th January 1915 as South Belmont primary with the attendance of 26 children. At the time, the school was a single room built from brick (now room 9) surrounded by bush and enclosed by a wooden post and top and bottom rail fence with two wires between. A rainwater tank provided water.

The original single room was thought to be adequate until 1927, by which time it was occupied by up to 58 students. Although the plans were made for extra room, the “pavilion room” was brought from Claremont as a temporary measure to house junior grades.

Yes, the pavilion is still here, and after a considerable career as a Art/craft centre now is functioning as a classroom.

By the year 1961 there where 6 classrooms and 272 students on the site and the school was also using local church hall. (well, that makes an average of over 45 students per class), and the school continued to grow.

In 1967 enrolments reached 622 students, and despite new classrooms, the students were spilling over – even the washroom was used as a temporary classroom.

And the school still kept growing, both in size and numbers. The official maximum number of students recorded was 790 in 1970, although some swear the number reached more than 800. At that time Kewdale Junior Primary School was under construction……

If you want to find out more about the wonderful history of our school – from the games that were played to crime and punishment – have a read of our history in “From scrub to asphalt” which is available from the school library